Democrats wasted little time Tuesday night celebrating the debate performance of Vice President Kamala Harris, a stark contrast from the party’s defeated morale in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s June match-up against former President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Republicans pointed the finger at the ABC News moderators over fact-checking and questions they insisted were designed to kneecap Trump.
The reactions from the respective parties marked a flipped script from the Biden-Trump debate, which ultimately led to the president’s political demise and Harris’s rise to the top of the Democratic ticket.
“To be clear, I was gonna tweet positive stuff about Kamala regardless, but this is legitimately a drubbing,” posted Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI).
2024 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP AND HARRIS FACE OFF IN ABC SHOWDOWN
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) compared Trump’s at times irritated performance to “a guy yelling at random people on 34th Street with a karaoke speaker.”
Biden’s former lone 2024 primary challenger, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), said Harris was “man-handling this poor old guy.”
Republicans assailed what they described as bias from ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis as they fact-checked claims from Trump, including that states permit a baby to be killed if it was born after a botched abortion.
“The moderators might as well be on the DNC payroll. This is ridiculous,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). “This is the worst moderated debate in history.”
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) accused the moderators of “political activism.” House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) called them “pro-Kamala activists.” And Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said Trump “is having to debate both Kamala and the moderators.”
“While Harris lied about her radical positions and spoke about things she would supposedly do as president, and despite the biased moderators shamelessly covering for Harris, there are two problems that Americans were reminded of in prime-time,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said. “She has a lifelong record as a Marxist, and she’s the sitting vice president who could secure the border and bring down costs today. Yet when Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris both say Harris’ values ‘have not changed,’ we should believe them.”
Trump ultimately secured slightly more speaking time on stage than Harris, buoyed by several back-and-forth exchanges with moderators over past remarks about Harris’s race, unfounded stolen election claims, and unsubstantiated rumors that immigrants in Ohio are stealing and eating residents’ pets.
At other times, Harris seemed to get under Trump’s skin when speaking about his crowd sizes and stance on abortion.
“She talks to us like toddlers but is doing a good job provoking him,” a House Republican, who declined to named, told the Washington Examiner. “He’s right on policy but can’t keep to a message.”
Another unnamed House Republican acknowledged Trump “could have won the election tonight, but he didn’t close the deal.”
Following the debate, Trump made a surprise appearance in the “spin room,” an area nearby where reporters assemble to speak with elected officials, aides, and commentators but typically not the presidential candidates themselves.
“I thought that was my best Debate, EVER, especially since it was THREE ON ONE!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
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The Harris campaign swiftly called for a second debate, which has not been set, to take place next month.
“Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate,” campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillion said in a statement. “Is Donald Trump?”
